Retirement Planning and Readiness of Local Government Employees in North-Western Ghana

Retirement represents a significant life transition, yet limited research exists on retirement planning among public sector employees in sub-Saharan Africa's most impoverished regions. This study investigates the retirement preparedness of local government workers in Ghana's Upper West Region, examining the factors that drive planning and readiness for retirement.

A qualitative case study design was employed. Semistructured key informant interviews were conducted with 33 local government employees aged 25-45 years across five departments within all 11 metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies of the Upper West Region. Participants were selected using purposive sampling with convenience recruitment. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, guided by the life course perspective and theory of planned behavior.

Key findings include (1) thoughts on retirement indicated that there was high awareness but age-related postponement of planning; (2) retirement aspirations were guided by financial security, homeownership, healthcare access, and family time; (3) content of retirement plans included land acquisition prioritized over financial instruments due to eroded trust in banking institutions; (4) drivers of retirement planning included personal goals, family obligations, and notably, the absence of workplace retirement education programs; (5) overall preparedness showed inadequate preparation, complicated by cultural norms of wealth secrecy as a protective strategy against envy and social obligations.

Local government employees in Northwestern Ghana demonstrate inadequate retirement preparedness. Effective interventions require context-sensitive approaches addressing financial literacy, workplace education programs, and the cultural dynamics of savings disclosure in collectivist, resource-constrained settings.